Senator Claghorn, the unreconstructed Southerner who refuses to use a compass because it points north, can now take his constitutional in the deepest woods. General Electric has a new compass which points east and west. The needle is made of silmanal—a new alloy of silver, manganese and aluminum—which can be magnetized across its width instead of lengthwise, as standard compass needles must be.
But silmanal has more important work to do. Its strong resistance to demagnetizing influences—such as strong electrical fields—makes it useful in electrical control equipment.
Other new permanent magnets:
¶ Cunico (copper, nickel, cobalt) and cunife (copper, nickel, iron), used for magnetic screws to effect extremely fine adjustments in small motors, gyroscopes and aircraft instruments.
¶ Alnico (aluminum, nickel, cobalt and iron), a hard, brittle alloy which can lift 4,450 times its own weight.
¶ Vectolite, a powerful lightweight magnetic material, made by compressing powdered iron rust and cobalt oxide, used in sensitive aircraft controls.
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